The Tale Of The Marauders
by WeasleyMyKing
Summary: What if you weren't like the rest of the family? An outcast? What if a school could actually save you from a lifetime of misery? Meet the three best friends you never thought you could have? This is the story of how it all began, the tale of the Marauders.
1. How It All Begun

The Black family were always…_traditional_, if you like. All of the Black's went to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and they were all sorted under the Slytherin House. So naturally, that meant that they all believed that Muggle Borns didn't deserve the opportunity to learn such things as magic. All with the exception of Sirius that is. He didn't mind Muggle Borns-not that he knew any-but he just didn't understand what was so bad about them. His family even had a problem with Half Bloods.

_A Muggle Born has all the same powers as I do, so why does it matter?_ Sirius would often think.

His mother would always threaten him that if he ever married a 'mud blood' or a half blood, he would disgrace the family and never be accepted.

::::

"_But mum, what's the matter with…mud bloods?" the young Sirius asked his mother one day while eating breakfast with his family. Everyone gathered around the table stopped eating and looked towards their mother, who simply scoffed._

"_Because son, they're bad blood, bad blood! You would ruin tradition in this family! Would you want to be like the Weasley's? Blood traitors?" his mother mused, in a snotty tone._

"_Well…no, but..." Sirius trailed off._

_How would he explain what he didn't understand if it would cause chaos?_

"_No buts! As long as you live under this roof and your last name is Black, you will do no such thing as to interact with those mud bloods, not even the half's." his mother said sternly, her harsh tone blatantly relaying that this was the end of their conversation._

::::

His mother was never the one to be _understanding_. That was his father, for while he had the same beliefs as his mother did, he listened to Sirius and explained to him _why_ he shouldn't.

Sirius enjoyed his father's company, he was much like him. They would always talk about things he never dreamt of talking about with his mother.

None of his siblings ever questioned their family's ways and always did what they were told. Sirius on the other hand, constantly questioned their beliefs and had a way of doing his own things his own way. He was never close to his siblings. He never played with them and rarely ever talked with them. If there was any form of verbal contact, it was a simple exchange of the word 'goodnight' at the end of a day.

A normal day for Sirius would consist of him pranking his younger siblings, who of course told on him, therefore earning him some beatings from his mother. However his father would always comfort him afterwards.

The day his father died, Sirius was around ten years old, and his whole world changed.

He never had anyone to tell his theories to, he could never think out loud again, and all of his musings remained un-answered.

He lost his best friend that day, and a part of him died.

Nothing was ever the same again. His mother's beatings worsened and the outgoing boy that he used to be, morphed into a boy who lost his sense of humor and lacked any personal opinion. The old Sirius was dead.

The house never looked the same to him anymore either. Instead of his siblings running around and playing, the halls were vacant, cold, quiet, and dark. His mother would lock herself in her room for days, maybe even weeks, leaving the children to fend for themselves.

Sirius couldn't really bring himself to give a damn though, believing that his nasty bat of a 'mother' didn't deserve a man like his father anyways.

While his mother became a slouch, Sirius decided to become the man of the house. He thought that his father would've liked that. Sirius made sure that his siblings ate, the house was clean, and made sure that they were constantly entertained. As time grew, so did his relationship with them. They all started playing together and exchanging more than one word, they even started asking Sirius questions. It was like he was becoming his old self again.

Sooner or later, his mother decided to suck up whatever she was feeling and become her usual self again, in other words, destroying whatever relationship Sirius had with his siblings. Hence, he reverted back to the dead Sirius.

_He_ was the one now, who locked himself in his rooms for weeks, with no company except for his black owl Sparta, and Kreature, who would bring him meals at least four times a day.

:::::

One, hot summer day, Sirius was sitting on his window sill, enjoying the slight breeze on his boyish-cute face when he noticed a black spot in the sky.

"What on earth…?" Sirius mumbled to himself, squinting into the sunlight.

As the spot in the sky came closer, a huge smile spread across his lips_. It was Sparta!_ He hadn't seen him for two days, when he went on a night flight.

Sparta flew towards Sirius and landed on his lap, holding out his leg with a letter attached to it.

_A letter? For me? Who'd be writing to me?_ he thought.

Sirius picked up the letter, glancing down at it. It was indeed addressed to him, Sirius O. Black, and it detailed exactly _where_ he was; The Black house, to the boy locked in his room, second floor.

_How did they know precisely where he was? _Sirius quickly brushed of the thought and tore into the envelope joyfully, and to his pleasure, he got accepted into Hogwarts!

In a mere two weeks, he would finally be able to flee from this hell house.

He reached out his hand and begun to stroke Sparta's head, day dreaming of how much better his life will be from now on.

"Soon, Sparta. Soon we'll be free." he remarked, and Sparta nipped at his fingers lovingly.

This was the start of a new beginning for them.


	2. The Sorting

_Bang, bang, bang._

"Sirius! Get up!" came his mother's horrifying voice. But she didn't have to wake Sirius, he's been up almost half the night, he was just too excited.

Today, was the day, the day where he is officially free from this hell whole, never having to go back for a whole year, if he's lucky.

_Bang, bang, bang._

"I'm up!" Sirius yelled.

He was already packed and ready to go, all he had to do was get dressed and look presentable, which he didn't even care, as long as he got on the Hogwarts Express at eleven o'clock, he didn't care what he looked like.

The other day was _horrid_. His mother took him to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies, Sirius was practically on his own, his mother went straight to one of the robe shops and bought a couple for herself. Most stressful day of his life, he learned that he was _not_ a people person; and had no tolerance for ignorant people.

He let out a heavy sigh and sat up in bed, and for the first time, his room seemed bright. Not because it was ridiculously sunny out, but maybe for the first time in a long time, Sirius was happy, and maybe more things would seem bright along with his journey.

Sirius got dressed in a black button up shirt along with dress pants and shoes, the outfit his mother picked out for him, and headed down the stairs to join his mother and other siblings at the table, all eating in silence, and for the first time, it didn't bother Sirius.

"After eating, go get your things Sirius, including that bloody bird." his mother told him towards the end of their meal.

"Yes ma'am." was all his reply. He went up stairs to grab his trunk, but on the way up the stairs, a voice stopped him.

"I'm proud, son."

Sirius slowly turned his head to the grey wall and found the portrait of his father beaming down at him.

"P-proud?" Sirius asked. How can I hear him? I never heard him before… he thought.

"Yes, proud. My son…going to Hogwarts! And, you're eleven! You're growing up so fast…and remember, no matter what House you get sorted in, I'll always be proud, even if you fail miserably." His father said, with a wink.

Sirius could feel his tears wanting to be released, to roll down his cheeks, but he would never let anyone see him cry, never.

"W-why are you talking to me now? Why not before?" Sirius asked as one single tear rolled down his face, and he silently cursed himself.

"I've never seen you out of that bloody room! I've tried walking through the other portraits…but I cant seem to get it. It would seem easy right? But bloody hell…" he trailed off a Sirius let out a little laugh.

"Sirius! Get moving!" His mother's screeching voice and Sirius let out a loud groan.

"You better go," his father said "but this won't be the last time you see me, I promise." he smiled.

After Sirius and his father's talk, he got all of his belongings and went down stairs where a waiting black vehicle was waiting for them with his mother and his siblings in it, Sirius guessed that his mother was dragging them along.

Sirius got in the car and the whole ride there, he had the biggest smile on his face.

"Well, I guess this is it," his mother sighed. They were all now in the bustling train station, at platform nine and three-quarters to be exact. Sirius had his stuff all packed on the train and he was waiting to board it.

"Well…yeah." Sirius said awkwardly, he never knew what was going to come out of his mothers mouth.

"Here, this is for the train," his mother said, handing him a black velvet pouch. "I'll see you at Christmas." She then turned on her heel and disappeared out of Sirius' sight along with his siblings. That was that.

He didn't feel sad, he was used to this type of treatment, so therefore it didn't bother him the least.

Sirius stepped into the train, and breathed, _freedom._

He walked casually down the isle of the train, hoping to find an empty compartment, which to Sirius' delight he found one pretty fast.

He sat down on the comfy seat and stared out the window.

This was it, he wouldn't have to see his bat of a mother for a whole two months, actually…he could just have Christmas at Hogwarts, he would never have to go home until summer...

"Finally…" Sirius whispered, closing his eyes and leaning his head on the back of his seat; he was free.

A knock on his compartment door knocked him out of his daze as a small boy with round glasses and brown messy hair appeared in the doorway.

"Mind if I join you? Everywhere is packed, I tell you." the boy said with a smile.

"Yeah, sure, come on in." Sirius said, returning the smile.

"Thanks mate." the boy said as he came in their shared compartment and sat across from Sirius.

"So what's your name?" the boy asked.

"Sirius, Sirius Black, yourself?"

"I'm James, James Potter." James stuck out his hand and Sirius shook it.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius said.

"Same, same. So what House do you want to get in?" James asked.

"Well…everyone in my family was a…" If he told James that his family was full of Slytherins, would he still want to talk to him?

"Of?" James asked, making a hand gesture to continue Sirius.

"Slytherins,"

"Really? You don't look like the Slytherin type…" James said.

"Slytherin type?" Sirius asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, Slytherin type, what, can't you hear? Usually Slytherins have this look on their face like 'If you just as so happen to look at me I will feed you to my pet basilisk' and you don't have that look," James shrugged. "Where's that trolley lady? I'm starving here…"

"Trolley?"

James just rolled his eyes. "Do you know anything? Yes, the trolley. It has all the goods on it. How much money do you have? Maybe we could combine and get more goods,"

"Oh yeah, yeah, hang on," Sirius digged in his coat pocket and pulled out the black pouch his mother gave him and emptied it's contents into his hand.

"Bloody hell, you have enough to buy the whole cart! I'll use five and you use five?" James asked and Sirius nodded, putting five galleons aside and put the rest away.

"So what House are you wanting to get in?" Sirius asked.

"Gryffindor mate, all the hero's get sorted in there, even Dumbledore was in there!"

"Dumbledore? Really?"

"Yes, please tell me you did hear of him?"

"Yes, you git, of course I heard of him," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I just didn't know he was in Gryffindor."

The next fifteen minutes consisted of James and Sirius talking about their family and what they were most excited for in Hogwarts.

"I want to try out for Quidditch, be a Chaser. Wouldn't that be cool? The girls will be falling all over for me…" James said dreamily and Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, if you don't fall off your broom like you did last year." Sirius said, still laughing as James gave him an evil glare.

"I told you that in confidence! No more speaking of that torturous day, and for your information, my father tipped me over on purpose…"

"Sure, sure, whatever you say James." Sirius said, still laughing, and eventually James laughed with him. He couldn't believe how fast him and James where getting along.

"Anything from the trolley, Dears?" came an overly-sweet voice.

Sirius looked over and saw a plump witch with a cart full of all sorts of crazy looking things.

"Oh, yes!" James said jumping out of his seat and head for the trolley with Sirius following right behind him.

"Two cauldron cakes, four chocolate frogs, two pumpkin pasties and two packages of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, please," James ordered. "Here, pay for these will you? I'll take the food."

"Sure," Sirius said as James carried the armload of goods they just bought. "Oi, gimme your money James."

James handed Sirius his money and he paid for the goods and sat back down with James as the lady rolled her cart to the next compartment.

For the rest of the train ride, James and Sirius pigged out on all their new food and talked some more about their lives and what Hogwarts will be like.

It was now dark out and every single star in the night sky was twinkling in the moonlight, and they felt the train stop and heard doors sliding open and voices all about.

"Time to go!" Sirius announced happily and James laughed and rolled his eyes.

Sirius and James jumped out of their seats and walked into the isle. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Sirius rubbed his hands together for warmth from the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Sirius couldn't believe his eyes; it was a giant!

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" came a booming voice. As the giant came closer, Sirius let out a gasp and James looked at him with scrunched eyes.

"James, look at that…" Sirius whispered, turning James around and pointing to the Giant.

"There's a giant here? Wicked…" James said in awe.

"Firs' years, follow me!" came the giant's voice again.

"Let's go mate," Sirius said.

Slipping and stumbling, James and Sirius, along with the rest of the first years, followed the giant, who's name was Hagrid, down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Sirius thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much, but some boy in the back kept wheezing.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake, thee Black Lake itself! Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, it's windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

"Let's get the first boat!" James said loudly, and Sirius nodded. They ran into the water and climbed in the very first boat.

"This is brilliant…" Sirius said.

"Tell me about it!" James said, completely excited.

"Mind if I get in?" came a boy's voice. Sirius and James turned around to see a boy with a pale face and brown hair.

"Join the party mate!" James said, and the boy smiled.

"I'm James," he said pointing to himself, "And this is my good mate, Sirius." he said, throwing his arm around Sirius' shoulders.

"I'm Remus," he said, offering his hand to James who shook it, and did the same for Sirius.

"Nice to meet ya lad." Sirius said and Remus just smiled.

"So, how excited are you? Which House are you hoping for? Are you going to try out for Quidditch?" James asked him and Sirius laughed.

"Merlin's beard James, give the poor guy some time." Sirius said and Remus laughed.

"No, no, it's fine. I want Gryffindor, heard nothing but good things from there, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be terrible, but if I get sorted into Hufflepuff, curse me." Remus said.

"Will do mate, will do." Sirius said.

"Same for me, no joke," James said. "Wait, what about Quidditch?"

"Not really my cup of tea, can't fly well…" Remus said, frowning.

"We'll have flying lessons!" James protested.

"We'll see." Remus laughed and Sirius shook his head, James was crazy about Quidditch.

People were still loading the boats when Sirius saw a chubby-looking boy standing in the water, looking somewhat scared, his eyes searching around the boats, which were now pretty packed.

"Oi, mate!" Sirius called out to him, and the boy looked over at the three of them. Remus and James looked over too and waved.

"You can ride with us!" Sirius aid and the chubby boy smiled and ran over to the boat.

"T-thanks," the boy said.

"No problem at all!" James said, clapping a hand to the boy's shoulder who just let out a nervous laugh.

The boats started to move a little in place causing the chubby boy to grip the edge of the boat in a tight grip.

"Just a boat lad," Remus said, patting him on the back.

"Not good with water…" the boy mumbled.

"We'll save ya if you go overboard." James said, grinning.

"We wont let anything _too_ bad happen to ya," Sirius said, and the boys face was priceless, it looked like he just saw a ghost, which caused James and Sirius to laugh like mad men.

"We're joking!" James said.

"I-I knew that," the boy said.

"Got a name?" James asked.

"Peter," he said.

"Peter…?"

"Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet ya Pete," James said grabbing Peter's hand and shaking it. "This here's Remus and Sirius."

Remus and Sirius nodded and Peter did the same.

"So mate, what House do you want to get into?" James asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Question of the night isn't it James?" Sirius asked, grinning, in which earning a punch in the arm from James.

"Oh, shut up Sirius, I'm just curious…" James mumbled, his cheeks starting to redden.

"Aw Jamie Poo!" Sirius said in a baby voice, ruffling his hair. His mother always used to call James 'Jamie Poo' and he despised it.

"Don't call me that Sirius!" James yelled, which earned heart felt laughs from the three other boys.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. No one was silent; all too excited for what they were about to see.

"Here we go boys!" James announced happily.

As the boats were moving, the castle came into view, and boy was it amazing.

While the other boys were busy talking, Sirius just could stop staring at the castle; _my new home_, he thought. Just the thought of a new home made Sirius smile from ear to ear.

"Man I hope I get in Gryffindor…" came James' voice.

"Me too, I'm really hoping for it…" came Remus' voice.

"I'll be happy with any House as long as it isn't Slytherin…" came Peter's voice.

_Slytherin_… came that horrible voice in Sirius' head. _I'm most likely going to get sorted into Slytherin… I wont be able to hang out with James, or Remus, hell, I'll be happy to hang out with that Peter fellow._

Sirius' good mood was instantly crushed. He looked around at the three boys who were laughing and smiling, and Sirius couldn't help but think that he would never be able to apart of them laughing…or anything.

It was too good to be true…

"What's wrong, mate?" James asked, putting his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"What? Oh…nothing, I'm fine…" Sirius said, waving his hand dismissively at James who just raised his eyebrows. "Really, James, I'm fine." Sirius grabbed James' hand and jerked it off his shoulder and moved his attention towards the castle again.

The rest of the boat ride was in silence, only Remus and Peter would talk, but that's about it.

Sirius didn't want to be an arse, but he figured there was no point in becoming close to someone he would never see, so he might as well just stop right there.

_There has to be people like James in Slytherin_, he thought. He truly wanted James as a friend, he hasn't felt so happy his entire life until he talked to him, but as his lovely mother would always say, all good things must come to an end. Plus, Sirius was used to losing people or people not bothering with him; which he figured James would do anyway.

James would most likely become popular and forget about Sirius, even if they were friends, and Sirius would be left with no one, unless he made friends with his fellow Slytherins.

_Dear God… I only know James for a few hours and it feels like years._

Sirius let out a sigh and buried his head into his hands, regretting ever saying yes to let James sit with him.

As the castle came near, everyone became silent now. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the boys' boat reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Out, all of yeh!" Hagrid yelled and as soon as Hagrid gave the okay, Sirius was out of his seat in the boat in a flash and was by Hagrid's side.

"Excited are yeh?" he asked and Sirius just gave him a weak smile.

"Mate!" James called out and before Sirius could turn around, James was right by his side, huffing and puffing. "What…did…I…do?" he asked in short breaths.

"Nothing." Sirius shrugged, without looking at him.

"Don't think I'm _that_ stupid, Sirius. I know we just met each other but its pretty obvious when something's put your briefs in a bunch."

"Just leave it, will you?" Sirius snapped.

"Fine." James said and stormed off towards Remus and Peter.

"Always me," Sirius muttered under his breath.

He knew it would be too good to be true to already have a friend, and Sirius figured that if Remus and Peter would hang around them, they would become his friends too.

But from what Sirius learned; no one wants to be friends with a Slytherin. He probably figured James was just lying to him on the train to make the conversation less awkward.

Hagrid and the first years clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out as last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. The walk there was quite noisy, and Sirius couldn't help but to listen to three boys who were next to him.

"I _better_ get Slytherin, I couldn't stand being a house filled with mud bloods." one boy said in a bitter voice. Sirius turned his head and looked at the boy who said it. He was pretty tall for his age, and had very blonde hair, almost white.

"Our parents were in it, we should too." said the boy next to the blonde one, but this one was short and chubby, chubbier than Peter.

"We got nothing to worry about, lads. Just ask the bloody hat, as my father said." said another boy, who was tall and had broad shoulders.

Sirius just shook his head and returned his attention on the upcoming castle. Would all his housemates always act like those three? His thoughts were interrupted when Remus came panting up to him.

"Sirius! What's gotten into you?" he asked breathlessly.

How would he put it? God, he hated lying. " You wouldn't understand, so just go back there with the others, alright? I'm not talking about it."

"But mate…"

"Leave me alone, Remus!" he snapped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's all this…banter, about?"

Sirius and Remus both turned their heads to see the blonde boy along with his two friends looking at them, walking near them.

"None of your bloody business." Remus said coolly.

"Now, now, that wasn't nice of you, was it? Why don't you leave this poor chap alone, like he said, alright?" the blonde boy smirked.

"Sirius…" Remus begun, but Sirius cut him off.

"You should listen to him." Sirius said. Remus glared at him but did as he wished and walked away.

"Took him long enough, don't you think?" the blonde boy said.

Sirius let out a forced laugh, "Yeah, you're telling me." and the other's laughed with him.

"What do they call you?" asked the blonde boy.

"Sirius, Sirius Black."

The blonde boy raised his eyebrows.

"Black? Well then, we're all going to be great friends, seeing as all our families have some history," he pointed his heads toward the boy who was short and chubby. "This here is Crabbe," he then pointed his head to the other boy, "This is Goyle," he then smiled at Sirius, "And I'm Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy,"

Lucius offered his hand to Sirius and he shook it.

"And welcome to the Slytherin House!" Lucius said enthusiastically.

Sirius just gave a short nod, they might not be James, Remus or Peter, but they were somebody.

The four of them walked together in a line up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got your glasses?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Sirius' first thought was not to mess with her, she looked like she could jinx you in a heartbeat without a reason.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit about a hundred Hagrid's in it; if not more. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

The followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Sirius could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the fist years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about, some nervous and some very antsy.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Each house has it's own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awards the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered on someone behind them, but it still made Sirius self-conscious so he tried to flatten his curly hair and straighten his clothes.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Sirius let out a shaky breath.

"How exactly are we sorted, Lucius?" Sirius asked.

"I believe they put a hat on your head and it somehow…reads your mind, dunno how that works, but my father said one year someone in his year was so nervous they fainted…"

Sirius swallowed. Fainted? What if he faints? Would they let him get sorted anyway?

"What happened?" asked Sirius.

"Father says they had to go back to London, poor chap, said he would have been a Slytherin," Lucius shrugged.

Back to London? No way in hell could Sirius ever go back to that god awful place he had to call home, _no way. _

_Just don't faint_. He thought. _Sure the other guy didn't want to faint either…_

Sirius just decided to stop thinking and keep his focus on the door. Any minute Professor McGonagall will come in and he'd be sorted into Slytherin, for the rest of his Hogwarts days.

_I want to be in Gryffindor._

Sirius was shocked at the thought that came into his head. Did he really want to be in Gryffindor? He knew his mother - scratch that, his whole family would be disgusted. All Slytherin, and not one had to ask.

_Ask? Goyle said something about asking the hat…I could get into Gryffindor with James! But my family would be furious…not like it would be my fault, but they would blame me anyway. Do I ask the hat? No, no…I'll just let the hat decide, leave it totally up to him, yeah…sounds good…_

Then something happened that snapped Sirius out of his crazy thoughts that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.

"Bloody hell!"

"What the hell - ?"

"Merlin's beard!"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty or more ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What look liked a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know it, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly notices the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" cried the Fat Friar, smiling around them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know,"

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Sirius swallowed and got into line behind Crabbe, with Goyle behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Sirius had never imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles floating in midair over four very long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the other teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students , the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the eyes that seemed to be starring in his soul, Sirius looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars, he could even see very dark clouds moving; it even looked _real._

"Bewitched ceiling you know, it changes whenever the weather does, _brilliant_ witchcraft..." came a girls voice. It was actually pretty hard to believe that there was a ceiling in the Great Hall, that it simply didn't open on to the heavens.

Sirius looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat had only a couple patches and was fairly dusty.

Sirius quickly glanced backwards to the rest of the first years and saw that they all were watching Professor McGonagall's every move; including James and Remus, he couldn't see Peter. Sirius let his gaze wonder upon the house tables and found his cousin, Bellatrix, smiling over at him. She was only one year older than him, and he only met her a couple times, but they really didn't get along.

He then focused his attention on the hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat begun to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me,_

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might be in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindor's apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuff are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in Ravenclaw,_

_If you're a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends._

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (although I have none)_

_For I'm a thinking cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished it's song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"Just the hat, Sirius! That's all!" Lucius whispered to Sirius, "I bet it'll barely touch our heads when it screams 'Slytherin!'"

Sirius gave him a fake smile. He wanted Gryffindor, not Slytherin. He knew he wouldn't be in Ravenclaw nor Hufflepuff; he wasn't that smart and he was definitely not patient. But _was_ he brave? Or cunning? He sighed, he was just going to let the Sorting Hat choose his fate.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long row of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Anderson, Kenneth!"

A skinny boy who had a pink face stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over his eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

The table second from the left clapped and cheered, several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Kenneth as he joined them.

"Brown, Shelby!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and the table on the right cheered and clapped too as Shelby went to go sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Sirius saw the ghost of the Fat Friar wave merrily at her.

"Bekket, Molly!"

"RAVENCALW!"

The Ravenclaw table clapped again as Molly went to sit next to Kenneth, but "Bocklehurst, Tom" became the first Slytherin, and the table on the far right exploded with cheers, and he heard his cousin yell "Welcome to the family!"

Crabbe was up next, and just as Sirius suspected, the hat barely touched his head when it screamed "SLYTHERIN!"

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius could swore that his heart stopped. This was it, the moment of truth…

As Sirius stepped forward, he heard Bellatrix say loudly "Don't waste your time, just send him over here!"

As Sirius sat on the stool with the Sorting Hat on his head, he looked over at her and smiled at her, and she gave him the thumbs up.

He was now looking at the black inside the hat. He waited.

"Hmm," said a soft voice in his ear. "Interesting mind…yes, very interesting, quite difficult as a matter of fact, loads of talent, plenty of that...but where to put you?" the hat paused and Sirius swore you could hear a pin drop. "You feel the need to prove yourself, don't you? Want to be the hero, eh? I know _just_ where to put_you_..."

The next word out of the Sorting Hat's mouth shocked Sirius, almost making him fall out of his chair. And he was glad he couldn't see Bellatrix's reaction, nor Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

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